SJ Quakes held on to a 2-1 victory over Sporting KC
Quakes’ new forwards scored in the first half and San Jose held on for the win
Cristian (Chicho) Arango (#9) center of the San Jose Earthquakes celebrates with teammate Rodrigues (#26) after the team’s victory in the MLS match between Sporting Kansas City and San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park on March 01, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
03.01.25 – The San Jose Earthquakes held on to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night despite playing a man down over the final 38 minutes at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
San Jose has opened with a pair of victories under first-year coach Bruce Arena — a five-time MLS Cup champion. Tonight’s win gives Bruce Arena his 264th in MLS regular-season play, a league record (The Earthquakes finished last in the league with 21 points last season). The late great Sigi Schmid is second with 240 victories, while Arena’s counterpart tonight, SKC coach Peter Vermes, is third with 203.
Cristian “Chicho” Arango and Josef Martínez scored first-half goals.
Arango scored his first goal for San Jose (2-0-0) unassisted three minutes into the match. Arango was acquired in the off-season from Real Salt Lake after totaling 17 goals and 12 assists in 30 appearances last season. He has five goals and three assists in eight career matches against Sporting KC.
San Jose took a two-goal lead in the 19th minute on the first goal of the season by newcomer Martínez. It was the 117th career goal for him, who scored unassisted to tie Bradley Wright-Phillips (2013-21) for sixth on the league’s all-time list. It was also his 137th goal contribution — third all time. Quakes legend Chris Wondolowski sits atop the list with 171.
2025.03.01 – (SJ Earthquakes vs. Sporting KC) Full Highlights!
Cristian Espinoza (#10) right of the San Jose Earthquakes shooting the ball during an MLS match between Sporting Kansas City and San Jose Earthquakes at Children’s Mercy Park on March 01, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
2025.03.01 – (SJ Earthquakes vs. Sporting KC) Full Highlights!
2025.03.01 – (SJ Earthquakes vs. Sporting KC) Full Highlights!
Sporting KC (0-2-0) pulled within a goal in the 27th minute on a penalty-kick goal by newcomer Dejan Joveljic. The PK was awarded after a foul on San Jose midfielder Ian Harkes. Joveljic was acquired from the Los Angeles Galaxy after scoring 21 goals through all competitions last season.
In the 52nd minute, Hernán López accrued his second yellow card after a sliding challenge and was sent off. Playing with 10 men the rest of the way, the San Jose defense valiantly stood their ground, turning away barrage after barrage until the final whistle for the victory – the Quakes’ first in Kansas City since 2015 en route to their first 2-0-0 start overall since 2017. López first yellow card came in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time.
“Typically when you lose a man to a red card, often the striker has to come out of the game. We did that and Arango stepped up in that position. Josef had to take one for the team. I thought Mark-Anthony Kaye and [Ousseni] Bouda did an outstanding job coming into the game and helping us protect the lead and walk off the field with three points, The effort from the guys was outstanding today. We know the technical part of the game wasn’t perfect, but tactically they did an outstanding job and showed a lot of fight and determination.” said coach Arena.
2025.03.01 – SJ Quakes vs. Sporting KC (The Aftershock post game)
Daniel De Sousa Britto totaled two saves for the Earthquakes.
John Pulskamp saved four shots for Sporting KC (0-2-0), which has lost nine straight in all competitions dating to last season.
Cristian Espinoza extended his run of consecutive MLS regular-season games played tonight to a current league-high of 111 (Oct. 2, 2021 – present). The streak is not only a Quakes record but now fifth longest in MLS history and second among all field players in MLS history, passing Darlington Nagbe (May 1, 2021 – Apr. 6, 2024). Goalkeeper Luis Robles holds the league record with 183 straight appearances (Sept. 29, 2012 – May 12, 2018).
Earthquakes defender Bruno Wilson said “I think it’s different to play with the three center backs, but I think our shape defensively has been very good. I think we’ve had more communication this year. It’s important. Everyone is communicating, always talking with the other player next to them, so that makes the game easier. … We have more experience. It’s been good, the two wins, but we have a lot of games, so we have to be better every day, and we have a lot of things to improve.”
UP NEXT: (SJ Earthquakes Roster)
The Earthquakes host Minnesota United on Saturday when Sporting KC plays at D.C. United. All games will be streamed globally on MLS Season Pass (Apple TV).
San Jose Earthquakes games will air on local radio via KNBR 680 AM (English) and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
NOTE: The Earthquakes last opened a season with a home victory in 2018, a 3-2 triumph over Minnesota United. They entered 6-3-1 all-time in home openers since their stadium debuted in 2015 across the street from San Jose Mineta International Airport.
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Read more at: San Jose Earthquakes Media Services / MLS.com /
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